A CEREMONY to mark a permanent memorial being erected to three Staffordshire soldiers killed in Iraq will be held days before the anniversary of their deaths.

Ptes Leon Spicer, aged 26, and Phillip Hewett, aged 21, both from Tamworth, and Second Lt 26-year-old Richard Shearer, of Nuneaton, died on patrol in Al Amarah on July 16 last year.

All three were serving in the 1st Battalion of the Staffordshire Regiment when they were killed by a roadside bomb.

Later this month, a ceremony will be held to commemorate a memorial bench being erected in their memory at Staffordshire Regiment Museum at Whittington Barracks, the headquarters of the regiment.

The mothers of all three soldiers, Sue Smith, mother of Pte Hewett, Maureen Shearer and Bridie Spicer, will attend the service with relatives, including Richard Shearer's brother, who will be travelling from France.

Jim Massey, the museum's regimental secretary, said: "The service will be a simple occasion.

"We want to put the message out there that three young guys in their prime were tragically killed and that we should remember them. The memorial being sited here is particularly poignant with them coming from Tamworth - it is still having a knock-on effect on the community."

Mrs Shearer said: "I think it's quite a nice memorial for the boys. But it's a sad time, I keep on thinking about this time last year, because he was still alive then. I haven't got a grave for Richard so this is somewhere I can go to remember him."

Mrs Smith said: "It will be an emotional day for us all."

The bench has been funded with donations from a free concert, organised by former soldier Ray Jennings, of Mile Oak, at Tamworth's St Editha's Church in September.

Mr Jennings, a member of the Tam-worth branch of the Royal British Legion, added: "They were in the Army and they were there to do a job, but they did not deserve to lose their lives."

Members of the public and servicemen who wish to pay tribute to the trio are invited to attend a nondemoninational service at the barracks at 12.30pm on June 11.

It is hoped a second memorial bench to the soldiers will be erected in the grounds of Tamworth Castle next month.